Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is facing massive backlash after her recent social media post about the Capitol Hill riot, wherein she misstated that police officers were killed during the event.
Fox News reported that in her post, Klobuchar claimed that the riot resulted in both officer injuries and deaths, sparking controversy and correction efforts on social media platform X.
On January 6, 2021, a massive protest disrupted the certification of the electoral vote. During the chaos, around 140 police officers suffered injuries.
Senator Klobuchar's statement on X, claimed that, "Four years ago, the electoral vote certification was interrupted by a violent mob. Police officers were injured and killed...Our democracy hung in the balance. I knew we had to do our duty and complete the count – and in the early hours of January 7th, we did."
Of course, this claim was patently false and overstated the reality of what happened on that fateful day that has been the subject of multiple investigations in the past few years.
However, the claim that police officers were killed during the riot was quickly contested. X responded by adding a "Community Note" to Klobuchar's post, which clearly stated, "No officers were killed."
This correction aligns with the findings of the Washington medical examiner, who concluded that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes following the event, specifically from two strokes, and not directly as a result of injuries sustained during the riot.
Despite the heated nature of the event, no police officers died directly from actions taken during the riot. This fact has been a cornerstone in the narrative dispute surrounding the January 6 events. Fox News Digital reached out to Senator Klobuchar's office seeking a response to the controversy but did not receive a reply.
Public figures and commentators have voiced their disapproval of Klobuchar's inaccurate portrayal of the events. Dana Loesch, a media personality, clarified, "No police officers were killed," reinforcing the community note issued by X.
Further discontent was expressed by Bonchie, an online commentator, who lamented the persistence of such falsehoods in the political discourse, "Zero police officers were killed. The time to stop lying about this was a long time ago...Can someone explain to me why it's okay for politicians to continually lie about this? Let's say you think J6 is the worst thing ever. Fine, but how does that make it acceptable to say officers were killed? It's four years later and the fact-checkers still won't touch this."
Mollie Hemingway, another commentator, criticized the dishonesty outright, "It is so sick to see people lie about who was killed...A Trump supporter was shot and killed, but no police officers were killed. Someone of your stature should not be lying brazenly about this. Just sick."
Chris Barron, a political strategist, suggested that Klobuchar should face official censure for her statement, reflecting the serious nature of misinformation on such highly sensitive topics.
Adding to the narrative, Brianna Lyman provided specific details about the aftermath for the Capitol Police officers, "Not a single officer was killed on Jan 6. Sicknick died of natural causes on Jan. 7. Two officers died by suicide in the weeks following while two other officers who were not present at the time of the protest later died by suicide that could not directly be tied to J6."
Ben Kew also remarked on the factual inaccuracies, noting that the only death by direct violence during the riot was that of Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who was shot.
The Capitol Police released a statement in 2021 following the medical examiner's findings, accepting that Officer Sicknick died of natural causes. Their press release emphasized, "This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol."